Wiping away the tears

How will God deal with sorrow of the lost? How will he heal the broken hearts of those who will enter into eternity without their loved ones? This is torture beyond comprehension. I have always assumed that when Christ "wipes away" every tear from our eyes that He will perform some sort of memory format and essentially remove those memories that cause us pain. However, does the bible actually confirm this view? Let us look at some of the scriptures which speak on this theme;

Isaiah 25:8
He will swallow up death in victory;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces;
and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth:
for the Lord hath spoken it.
So it is the Lord Himself who wipes away the tears!

Revelation 7:16-17 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Notice the use of the colon in this verse. So the wiping away of the tears from their eyes is another way of indicating that Christ will take them to the stream of life. This thought is expanded and clarified in the following text;

Psalms 73:17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;then understood I their end.

In this Psalm David is wrestling with the seeming lack of justice for the wicked and the trials of the righteous. However, David grasps the big picture when he "beholds" the sanctuary. In the past I have always read this with a thunder and lightning perspective; that David looked into the sanctuary and it was revealed to him that there would come a day of retribution and his wrath was satisfied, but I am beginning to understand that David saw the beauty, mercy, longsuffering, pity and love of our God and realised that the presence of our Father, being a healing comfort to the saint, will be a consuming fire to the wicked. Consider yet further, what is the sanctuary? It the place where God reveals His presence and makes himself known. You recall that in Exodus 25:8 it says "let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them". Thus the sanctuary or temple is the vehicle or channel through which God finds a dwelling place amongst His people. Coming back to the theme of the discussion, being the "wiping away of the tears", consider where the temple will be in heaven;

Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

There is no temple in heaven as a building but Christ Himself and the Father are the temple. So now I would like to look at that psalm again which we looked at just before and insert this truth from Revelation 21;

Psalms 73:16-17
When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me;
Until I went unto Christ and the Lord God Almighty;
then understood I their end.

All was revealed by looking unto Christ and the Father. Lets unpack this a little further. In Revelation 7, sited above, it says that Christ will "lead them to streams of living water" and Revelation 21:22 says that Christ and the Father will be the Temple in heaven. Now consider the following;

Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Christ is going to lead "them" to streams of living water and we are told that the river of Life will proceed forth from the throne of God AND from the lamb, which is Christ. Thus Christ will draw men unto himself and give them more of himself, more of His personal presence. Moreover, this very river of Life flows through the midst of the tree of life which draws its life from that water and Christ is understood to be represented as the tree of life;

Here Christ presented before the disciples, and before the people, truths of the highest importance. He was the tree of life to all who would pluck and eat. His words were truth. But their unbelieving, selfish minds could not grasp His meaning. “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” Ms95-1898.22

Christ testifies the following;

Revelation 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

We have read above that the leaves of this tree are for the healing of the nations. Thus it is Christ giving of Himself which will heal the nations. Now please consider the statements which have been collated below to see the harmony which the Spirit of Prophecy furnishes to confirm these findings;

……The Paradise of God, the home of the blessed! There all tears shall be wiped from off all faces! When Christ shall come the second time, to be “admired in all them that believe” ( 2 Thessalonians 1:10), death shall be swallowed up in victory, and there shall be no more sickness, no more sorrow, no more death! A rich promise is given to us: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” ( Revelation 22:14). Is not this promise rich and comforting to those who love God?25 { TMK 362.2}

Whatever crosses they have been called to bear, whatever losses they have sustained, whatever persecution they have suffered, even to the loss of their temporal life, the children of God are amply recompensed. “They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.” Revelation 22:4. { COL 180.1}

and Christ the Redeemer will be admired by all who have served Him. While the wicked flee from His presence, Christ’s followers will rejoice. The patriarch Job, looking down to the time of Christ’s second advent, said, “Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not a stranger.” Job 19:27, margin. To His faithful followers Christ has been a daily companion and familiar friend. They have lived in close contact, in constant communion with God. Upon them the glory of the Lord has risen. In them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ has been reflected. Now they rejoice in the undimmed rays of the brightness and glory of the King in His majesty. They are prepared for the communion of heaven; for they have heaven in their hearts. { COL 420.3}

This last statement only really makes sense when we have a glimpse of the present cross. Only a saint who understands, to some extent, the suffering of his saviour can be truly comforted by seeing Him face to face and be reconciled to the Father through the literal Son.

With such a prospect as this before us, such a glorious hope, such a redemption that Christ has purchased for us by His own blood, shall we hold our peace? Shall we not praise God even with a loud voice, as did the disciples when Jesus rode into Jerusalem? Is not our prospect far more glorious than was theirs? Who dare then forbid us glorifying God, even with a loud voice, when we have such a hope, big with immortality, and full of glory? We have tasted of the powers of the world to come, and long for more. My whole being cries out after the living God, and I shall not be satisfied until I am filled with all His fullness. { EW 110.2}

He laid hold of the gate and swung it back on its glittering hinges and bade the nations that had kept the truth enter in. Within the city there was everything to feast the eye. Rich glory they beheld everywhere. Then Jesus looked upon His redeemed saints; their countenances were radiant with glory; and as He fixed His loving eyes upon them, He said, with His rich, musical voice, “I behold the travail of My soul, and am satisfied. This rich glory is yours to enjoy eternally. Your sorrows are ended. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” I saw the redeemed host bow and cast their glittering crowns at the feet of Jesus, and then, as His lovely hand raised them up, they touched their golden harps and filled all heaven with their rich music and songs to the Lamb. { EW 288.1}

An additional point of note; when the disciples witnessed the death of Christ was there not grief, doubt, tears and sorrow. How were these wiped away? Did God erase the memory from their minds? No, In fact He opened their eyes when He sent the comforter, which is Christ, and when their eyes were opened and they saw the bigger picture then their tears were also wiped away.

Is our God such a God as to provide Man with freedom of choice at the beginning only to take it away at the end. The idea of brain washing is an act of self preservation, a way of never having to risk this again. The reason why this will never happen again is because the cost will ALWAYS be before God's chiildren and the universe in the light of full memory. The love of God overwhelms the loss of loved ones and we struggle to comprehend this because of our wickedness but "only through LOVE is LOVE awakened" such love as to drive out fear and suffering from the fleshly temple.